Running on fumes - Drivers forced to turn to blackmarket gas in Kinshasa as Trump's Iran war hits

Kinshasa residents described the struggle to fill up their vehicles and motorcycles, saying they were being forced onto the black market as pump shortages worsened and the fallout from Trump's Iran war deepened Africa's fuel crisis.

Footage filmed on Tuesday shows long lines of motorists at gas stations, with some reporting waits of several hours to refuel.

"Yesterday, I spent all day at the station, from 6 a.m. to 4 a.m., getting fuel in a jerrycan," one local shared.

"State-owned stations like COBIL shouldn't run out of fuel, but that's not the case. We resort to informal fuel vendors who have doubled the price of a litre of gasoline," he continued.

Another resident called for firm government action to stabilise the market, as some said they were forced to 'tip or bribe' informal fuel sellers.

"If you don't bribe them, they won't serve you. We're suffering. At the informal dealership, they've raised the price to 5,000 francs ($2.16 - 1.86 euros) for a litre of gasoline," he said.

"Some stations that have fuel are charging extra on top of the usual price to be served. We wonder if there will be a price increase; they should tell us officially," a local added.

Fuel prices in Kinshasa have reportedly jumped by up to 33 per cent, reaching 3,000–4,000 CFA (about $5–7 - 4.5–6 euros) on Monday. In Nigeria, fuel costs have also risen, while around 20 per cent of Kenya's fuel stations reported supply shortages, amid a wider Middle East crisis disruption through the Strait of Hormuz.

The global energy market has seen huge turmoil since the US and Israeli military operations against Iran and Tehran's retaliatory attacks on Israel and US assets.

On Saturday, Donald Trump gave Iran a 48-hour 'deadline' to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, or he would 'obliterate' the country's 'power plants', and would start with 'the biggest one first'. On Monday, he extended the deadline by an additional five days after posting on Truth Social that he had "very good and productive conversations" with the Iranian side.

The Strait handles around 20 per cent of global oil and LNG traffic, with prices surging since the attack on Iran. Tehran has said the Strait "is open to friends and non-hostile countries, but closed to enemies and those who collaborate with them."

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